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Monthly Archives: May 2012

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Today, I’m in the mood to show off a few of my vintage treasures I’ve collected over the past few years and how I incorporate the old with the new. I’m focusing on the kitchen, since vintage kitchen items are a favorite of mine. They remind me of my mom and my grandmothers.

We bought a retro style, but new, microwave back in February, in my favorite shade of turquoise blue. On top is an Orla Kiely serving tray from her Target collection, holding my Fiestaware teapot, a vintage Pyrex Flameware 6 cup coffee pot, and a vintage whiteware coffee pot I inherited from my Grandma Ada. The Pyrex ad was purchased off eBay. In the background is a large Martha Stewart bamboo cutting board from Macy’s, a smaller board I bought at a garage sale, and peeking out from behind is a new set of Fiestaware mixing bowls from Kohls.

I recently acquired this lovely canister set off of eBay. It was made by Lincoln Beautyware and is in very good condition. Canister sets are a bit of an obsession for me. I also have a turquoise set sitting on the other side of my red Keurig mini brewer. The peacock Fiestaware creamer and sugar set is new from Kohls, while the silver spoon was part of a flatware set my mother received as a wedding gift.

Aren’t these mini toaster salt and pepper shakers darling? They are just for display. I actually use the vintage cobalt shakers for cooking. They hang in a Kromex spice rack. The new pot holder was $1 at Dollar General.

I actually have a love/hate relationship with my vintage bread box. I love having a place to keep my bread fresh and out of site, but it’s such a counter space hog. It’s marked KCO Canada on the back and was an eBay find a few years ago. The recipe box is by Martha Stewart for Macys-they now have a red one I’d like to get. The stoneware crock was an antique barn find last weekend.

Speaking of counter space hogs, this is my husband’s new beer fridge. It matches the microwave and is from Nostalgia Electronics. The coffee can was scavenged from my mother-in-law’s basement and holds loose change. The pitcher, I believe is by Hazel-Atlas. I also have a yellow one. The leather case hold my husband’s old set of binoculars. We keep them here because this is right near our back door, and we bird watch the field behind our home. The IKEA shelf holds a vintage thermos, scale, coffee canister and my old and new colanders. The large one is from Target. Finally, the lobster magnet was a gift from my dad, bought on a vacation stay in Maine.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed my little show-and-tell session. Hopefully, it inspires you to add a bit of vintage to your home.

Since we moved here 4 years ago, my husband has become an avid bird watcher. Which means, I’ve become a bird watcher by default. We have seen all kinds of birds in this field. Here’s a list off the top of my head.

cardinals

blue jays

red-winged black birds

goldfinches

hummingbirds

orioles

dark-eyes juncos

song sparrows

robins

red-tailed hawks

coopers hawks

blue herons

scarlet tanager

turkey vultures

an actual turkey

a bald eagle (that was exciting)

pheasants

mourning doves

purple finches

once, I think I saw an indigo bunting

mallard ducks

and way too many Canadian geese

That’s quite a list. But missing from that list, and irritating the Hubster to no end, is our official New York State bird, the Eastern Bluebird. He’s read up on how to attract bluebirds, seen bluebirds nearby in our area, and even put out food specifically to attract them, with no luck at all. As a last ditch effort, last weekend, he took an old birdhouse we had hanging in our crabapple tree and hung it up.

Yesterday morning, bleary-eyed and caffeine-deprived, driving on his way to work, there was a damned bluebird, sitting on a scrubby branch, underneath the birdhouse. He was there again later, when we were leaving again, and I saw him too.